Consider smart cards for motor vehicle policy holders: HC tells Centre

August 27, 2014

The Madras High Court on Tuesday called upon the Department of Banking and Insurance to consider issuing cashless smart cards to motor vehicle policy holders by public and private sector insurance companies so that accident victims could get the best and timely medical aid.

The First Bench, of Chief Justice S.K. Kaul and Justice M. Sathyanarayanan, passed the order on a writ petition by A.P. Suryaprakasam, an advocate, who said several accident victims, belonging to poor families, suffered untold hardships for want of quality and timely medical aid. In most of the hit and run cases, vehicle drivers did not come forward to help victims because they themselves could not afford to meet the initial medical expenses. Hence, he made a representation to the Department to direct all insurance companies to issue smart cards to vehicle owners at the time of issuing the insurance policy. The cards could be used by the person causing accident to admit the victims in the nearest hospital for timely and quality treatment during the Golden Hour.

Policy decision

Disposing of the petition, the Bench said the matter involved a policy decision. It was for the Department to examine the suggestion within three months and communicate the decision to the petitioner.

 

This will help accident victims get the best and timely medical aid

 

Source:The Hindu

A dangerous stretch of NH

July 31, 2014

15 accidents reported during this monsoon The number of accidents on the Kozhikode-Kannur stretch of the National Highway 17, especially the 44-kilometre stretch between Vadakara and Kannur, is yet to come down despite efforts by the Motor Vehicle Department and the police to strictly implement traffic rules. Since the beginning of the monsoon season, no fewer than 15 accidents were reported on the route, including those involving school buses, motorbikes, goods-carriers, and buses. “The vehicles, especially contract carriages, seem to be exploiting to the hilt the recent modification of speed limit to 80 km per hour,” Radhakrishnan, a native of Vadakara, says. Even during rainy days, vehicles are found crossing this speed limit unmindful of the slippery road and blurred vision. Senior officials of the Motor Vehicles Department say they have identified 18 “black spots” on the Kozhikode-Kannur national highway to take up surveillance measures. “We identified these spots taking into account the frequency of accidents there,” they say. MVD sources say an earlier suggestion to install radar cameras on all identified “black spots” is still pending. Same is the case with the proposal to set up special control rooms to receive live feeds from radar cameras. Along with surveillance, rescue operations too are facing setback. In a recent accident, three injured travellers in an overturned car had to remain inside the vehicle for over two hours as local people had no mechanism to pull them out. In another incident, it took hours to remove a car that was gutted near a busy traffic junction in Vadakara.

18 black spots identified on the 44-km stretch

Proposal to set up radar cameras with live feeds

Source:The Hindu

Move for making helmet mandatory

July 31, 2014

Praveer Ranjan wants police-people interface

Praveer Ranjan, IG of Puducherry.Photo: S.S. Kumar

Praveer Ranjan, IG of Puducherry.Photo: S.S. Kumar

 

Expressing concern over the spate of road accidents in the Union Territory, the new police chief and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Praveer Ranjan on Wednesday said he would recommend to the Government to implement compulsory wearing of helmets by two-wheeler riders.

“Wearing of helmets is absolutely non-existent in Puducherry,” said Mr. Ranjan while addressing presspersons here to list out his policing priorities.

Statistics showed that in so many road accidents, people died only because they were not wearing helmets. “I will propose to the government to implement the helmet rule in the city at the earliest,” he said.

Describing road traffic issues as one of main interfaces with police for the public, Mr Ranjan advocated improving traffic regulation. “Right now, I myself feel very dissatisfied with the way traffic is managed in the city. There is scope for improvement.”

He also underscored the need for creating awareness among the public about lane driving and speed regulations.

Noting that the law and order situation in the city had improved over the past year or so, he said steps would be taken to make it even better.

The police chief expressed his wish to improve the police-people interface to minimise complaints against the law enforcers.

“People should look upon the police as a friendly and easily accessible unit. There should not be any complaint of rude or impolite behaviour on the part of police,” he said.

“I will take stringent on any misconduct on the police side,” he added.

Holding his proposed strengthening of community policing among fishermen as a matter close to his heart, he said he wished to augment community policing at all levels.

Expressing hope for early approval from the Union government for the proposed safe city project, Mr. Ranjan said the project would cover the entire city.

On the ongoing initiative to computerise and network all police stations under the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network (CCTN) programme, the IGP said that so far 90 per cent of records were digitised and soon the entire country could be linked up on the network.

Mr. Ranjan said 100 more women would be recruited soon in the existing 400 vacancies. On technology exposure and skill training, he said he wanted to send batches of policemen to other centres to undergo training in latest technologies.

Source:The Hindu

NGOs draw up safety measures

July 29, 2014

Vishakapatnam:

Keeping in view the recent accident of a train ramming a school bus at an unmanned level-crossing near Masaipet in Medak district, city-based NGOs have focused on the safety levels of the transport system in the district.

In order to avoid occurrence of such accidents in the region, representatives of Bala Vikas Foundation (BVF) and Praja Spandana have drawn up 10 points to be presented to the district administration, Transport and Education departments.

Checking the condition of school buses, verifying the licence, conducting periodical health check-up for drivers, considering parents’ views, examining the condition of buses and carrying surprise checks were some of the safety measures covered in the draft.

Expressing their concern over road safety, Narava Prakasa Rao and P. Venkateswara Rao of BVF along with C.S. Rao of Praja Spandana said: “The idea is to exercise caution and ensure safety for schoolchildren. The school management should work in line with the departments and make every effort to provide a secure environment for students.”

They said that they would approach MPs and MLAs to firm up the safety measures for schoolchildren in all aspects.

Source:The Hindu

Green signal for traffic overhaul

July 11, 2014

TNN |

NEW DELHI: Generous funding in this year’s Budget could turn around the capital’s traffic infrastructure. Against just Rs 4 crore last year for installation of traffic signals and related infrastructure, there’s Rs 11.5 crore this time. Another Rs 11.4 crore has been allocated for developing traffic and communication networks, taking the total to Rs 22.9 crore. Funds for modernization projects have also doubled-from Rs 34.9 crore to Rs 67.9 crore.In total, Delhi Police has got 13% more funds-Rs 5,030.5 crore against Rs 4,455.2 crore last year. There’s Rs 67.9 crore under the plan head and Rs 4,585.3 crore for non-plan expenditure. An additional Rs 377.3 crore has been provided for housing infrastructure.

Sources at police headquarters said the allocation is in line with their demand and the department will not face a financial crunch this year. Important projects like the city surveillance system and intelligent traffic system, which are part of the Safe City Project and pending for years, could be implemented this fiscal.

The two projects have already gained pace with police officers visiting Surat in this connection and studying the setup there. The higher allocation will enable police to fill up vacancies and acquire more vehicles for patrolling. The department is also hopeful of starting to pay back the Rs 760 crore it owes other states.

The budget has also paid heed to the city’s demands for sensitizing Delhi Police. Funds under the head of training have been increased from Rs 1 crore to Rs 4 crore. This will give a fillip to the planned training programmes, some of which are going on in central Delhi.

However, the allocation for induction of latest technology is below police’s expectations. While it had demanded Rs 2 crore, it has been given Rs 44 lakh. A senior officer said that adequate funds are available for implementing other projects and the department will make do with the smaller amount for new technology this financial year.

The allocation for the Nirbhaya fund remains unchanged at Rs 3 crore this fiscal year.

Project to install high-speed traffic cameras fails to take off

April 16, 2014

Hindustan Times (Delhi)

Subhendu Ray

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Traffic Police had mooted a grand plan of installing speed cameras at the city’s busy intersections to nab motorists flouting rules as well as bringing down the number of fatal accidents on the roads.

SONU MEHTA / HT  -Delhi traffic police want to set up 8 high-speed cameras in two accident prone zones to track and nab offenders.Three years on, however, the plan continues to remain on paper with the traffic police force once again missing the March deadline for implementation of the project.

Sources said in 2012 that the traffic police had come up with a plan to install 70 infrared-based speed cameras at the busy city intersections in order to identify and nab speeding motorists.

The plan, however, was later scrapped as the ministry of home affairs did not approve it.

Later, due to a ‘funds crunch’, the traffic police had scaled down their demand and come up with a fresh plan to instead eight such high-speed cameras and install them at the city’s two accident-prone zones at Kingsway Camp and Aurobindo Marg  by March 2014.

However, the ` 2.25 crore project again got stuck during its technical evaluation phase.

“We had plans to install the cameras by the last financial year but the tender process got stuck during the technical evaluation. The whole process of finalising the bidder may take a few more months,” stated Taj Hassan, special commissioner of police (traffic).

Sources however, claimed that the project this time too failed to take off again due to non-allocation of funds by the ministry.

“With the fund allocated to us, we could only purchase 78 breath analysers in the last financial year,” said a senior traffic police officer.

In 2013, more than 1,700 people were killed in road accidents. During an analysis, traffic police found out that many of them were killed due to speeding. This year also, over 400 people were killed on the roads of the city during the first three months.

The cops also had plans to buy 10 Innova cars mounted with automatic speed violation detection system, which would intercept vehicles speeding beyond permissible limits, both during day and night and in all kinds of weather conditions.

This project too is yet to be cleared.

Source -http://paper.hindustantimes.com/

Wanted: A permanent eye on traffic

April 7, 2014

Nitasha Natu & Somit Sen,TNN

The traffic in Mumbai is horrific. The roads here are narrow and vehicular population exploding. But the problem is also us. The motorists among us refuse to follow traffic rules, smug in the knowledge that the chances of getting caught are minimal. It is time to check this assuredness, to create a deterrent against violations. Transportation experts say our city needs a network of CCTV cameras that will detect traffic offenders and help the understaffed police penalise them. Many metropolises around the world have such a system. To bring order to Mumbai’s choked roads, the state should make sure that we get one too — soon

 

For the last few years, Bangalore has been showing the country the way on traffic enforcement. It has installed 173 surveillance cameras, 5 static enforcement cameras and 500 portable digital cameras to keep an eye out for rule breakers. Nearly 2,000 cases are booked every day there using digital surveillance. Challans are issued with handheld devices and an online gateway enables and facilitates electronic payment of fines.In embarrassing contrast, Mumbai has been a laggard. It has 118 CCTV cameras mounted at “strategic locations” , but they—or the ones actually functioning—are merely used to track congestion and divert cars for VIPs. Seldom is the footage used to spot traffic offenders. Meanwhile , the chaos on the road deepens.

There is little doubt that the disorder that passes off as Mumbai’s traffic flow needs to be addressed urgently. The vehicular population has grown annually by an average of 8% and stood at 2 crore in March last year. From 15.2 lakh in 2012, traffic offences rose sharply to 20.5 lakh in 2013. And still, there are just 3,493 traffic police personnel to monitor the city’s 1,940-km network of roads.

Transportation experts assert that no number of fresh recruits will comprehensively regulate traffic in a city as large and disregarding of road laws as Mumbai. For that the authorities must embrace technology. Like in major metropolises around the world, there is a need here to install a grid of CCTV cameras that will automatically detect traffic violations, help penalize offenders and create a deterrent.

“The traffic police cannot watch every stretch of road. Manpower constraints make it even more imperative to put CCTVs to better use,” says Ashok Datar, chairman of the Mumbai Environment Social Network and a transportation expert. “Existing cameras need to be replaced with high-resolution ones.”

The traffic police incidentally agree. Joint commissioner (traffic) Dr B K Upadhyaya says a proposal for the procurement of superior enforcement cameras was sent to the Maharashtra government around seven months ago. The request is still pending.

If and when the new system is mounted, Upadhyaya says, “the pressure on the force will reduce. We will not have to deploy personnel at all junctions.” For a start, he adds, the cameras can be fitted at key junctions and the police provided updated RTO data on vehicle owners.

Datar says the advanced system will work not only as a rule enforcer but also as a deterrent . “People will realize they are being watched. The system particularly curbs offences of lane cutting, speeding, signal jumping , and halting on pedestrian signal.”

Such CCTV systems are common in British cities and elsewhere. A majority of them use the Automatic Number Plate Recognition software , in which the cameras take pictures of travelling vehicles and automatically detect traffic violations. The software then enhances the picture of the offending vehicle’s number plate and extracts the alphanumeric characters.

To be sure, Mumbai has a small web of traffic cameras but, by all accounts, it is obsolete. Zicom Electronic Security Systems, which set up the network in 2006, says the objective then was “surveillance, not catching offenders” . “No new cameras were added thereafter. The state tried to get 5,000 state-of-the-art cameras in a Rs 1,000 crore project. Tenders were floated. But the project got stuck,” says Pramoud Rao, managing director of the company. Datar blames the state government for not showing urgency in procuring the advanced CCTV system for Mumbai: “it lacks interest”.

Present in Mumbai 

118 CCTV cameras are installed at strategic locations, mainly busy traffic junctions The cameras are normally used to track congestion, regulate traffic flow and to decide diversions during VIP/VVIP movement. Personnel from local traffic outposts are directed to the spots where snarl-ups are detected with the cameras The system is not sufficiently advanced to detect traffic offenders automatically with the CCTV footage. Besides, a few cameras are not even functioning

Needed in Mumbai 

Two or three high-resolution enforcement cameras should be fitted at busy junctions to capture images from various angles Challans should be sent by email or snail mail to the traffic offenders spotted by the cameras. Online payment of fines should be encouraged If the fine remains unpaid, the offender should be summoned by the traffic police, or the challan should be forwarded to the court, which can send the summons

Digital surveillance will soon cover all key B’lore junctions 

Bangalore has the most robust automated traffic enforcement system in the country. Called B-TRAC , it was conceptualised in 2006 and initiated with the introduction of Blackberry phones for traffic officers. Within a year, records on these phones were linked to the transport department’s database and manual issuance of challans was discontinued. Surveillance cameras were added to the equation later. Today, the city has 173 surveillance cameras, 5 static enforcement cameras and 500 portable digital cameras. “When a violation is found, our cameras zoom in on the number plate. The number is checked with the transport department’s database and a notice is issued with the photo of the violation,” says B Dayananda, additional commissioner of police (traffic). “We have finalised the tender for 105 more cameras. With this, all key junctions will be covered.” A 10ft by 72ft video wall for monitoring was recently installed at the traffic management centre. Last year, the police turned Bangaloreans too into traffic enforcers by launching a mobile app. “We call it Public Eye. If any citizen sees a violation, he can take a photo and, using the app, upload it to our server. If the evidence is found solid, the violator is booked,” says Dayananda.

— Arun Dev 

Three lakh challans issued in Chandigarh with 19 cameras 

Traffic police in Chandigarh are known for strict enforcement of road laws. To assist them, they have installed 19 CCTV cameras at the city’s busiest roads. In the last four years, more than 3 lakh traffic challans have been issued with this technology. The 19 cameras are linked to a control centre and their feed is monitored by an inspector. “So far, jaywalking was the commonest offence for which challans were issued. But now we are adopting new CCTV technology that will help detect violations such as signal jumping and speeding,” says SSP (traffic) Maneesh Chaudhary. The police also encourage citizens to upload photographs of traffic violations on their Facebook page; alongside it should be mentioned the place, date and time of the offence.

Source-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

 

State Highways to Come Under Camera Surveillance Soon

April 7, 2014

By Express News Service – KOCHI

 

After installing high power cameras in various National Highways in the state, the Motor Vehicle Department would now procure another 500 mini cameras to maintain surveillance on the State Highways. Police officials said that the tender for the mini cameras has been floated and it would be installed within a month’s period.

According to senior officials in the Motor Vehicle Department, the majority of surveillance cameras are fitted on the state’s National Highways. “The number of cameras in the State Highways were comparatively low and over speeding incidents were high here. There are several highways in the state, which are more wider than the National Highways. In these roads, there is a high intensity of traffic and many accidents reported. So we decided to install mini cameras which can detect the speed of the vehicle and facilitate carrying out enforcement activities as well,” a senior official said. Motor Vehicle Officials said that the newly inaugurated control room to monitor vehicles along the highway from Cherthala to Manjeshwaram has been a huge success. “More than 300 drivers are being booked daily using these cameras. With the installation of the new system, we can successfully control the speed of inter-state luxury buses plying in the night,” an official said.

Some of the night buses are found over-speeding at more than 90 kilometres. The installation of the cameras has made the drivers more wary. As a result, they don’t accelerate and drive cautiously on the NH. If the driver is caught for the first time, he is let off with a fine. If this becomes a regular occurrence, then stringent action including cancelling of the license would be taken.

A state-of-the-art control room to monitor vehicles along the highway from Cherthala to Manjeshwaram was inaugurated at Kakkanad a few weeks back. The control room monitors feed from 147 observation cameras set up along the highway.

At present 57 cameras have been set up for the purpose. Apart from the over-speeding and signal violation, the use of mobile phones and not wearing helmet are also liable for punishment. The cameras also help in booking riders and drivers carrying more people than the required capacity, violation of lane traffic, manipulated and unauthorised registration plates and dangerously loaded vehicles.

 

Source- http://www.newindianexpress.com/

Overloaded trucks will now be fined 10 times the toll

March 1, 2014

TNN[ Dipak Kumar Dash ]

  ( Overloading is one of the major causes of road accidentsand fatalities)

NEW DELHI: Truckers carrying goods beyond the permitted load will end up paying 10 times higher toll charges, as per the new norms notified by the government as part of amendment in toll rules for national highways in the country.The notification issued after the Cabinet nod also says vehicles must not be allowed to cross toll plazas unless the driver or owner offloads the extra weight at his own risk and cost. Earlier, rules allowed an overloaded vehicle to pass toll plazas by paying the toll charge specified for the next higher category vehicle.This meant in case a three-axle vehicle was found overloaded, it could pass the toll plaza after paying the charge for a four-axle vehicle. “This penalty was too little. Though the rule also included offloading of extra load, there was hardly any impact. Now, private road developers will have an interest checking overloading as they will get substantial extra revenue,” said an official.

Overloading is one of the major causes of road accidents and fatalities. In 2012, overloading and overcrowding caused almost one lakh accidents and claimed 30,500 lives on Indian roads.

Moreover, a Central Road Research Institute study had shown that with 10% overloading above the permissible limit, the life of roads got reduced by 35% and with 30% overloading, it got reduced by about 65%.

International experts have been pushing for reforms in rules and regulations to make travel safer on Indian roads. Pushing for such reforms, India head of World Health Organization Nata Menabde said last week, “If India can save its children from polio, we are sure that we can save those children than dying on roads later.”

She had said that across the world, road accident was the biggest killer of young population in the age group of 15-29 years.

Source-http://m.timesofindia.com/

Overloaded trucks will now be fined 10 times the toll

December 18, 2013

Overloaded trucks will now be fined 10 times the toll

Overloading is one of the major causes of road accidents and fatalities.

 NEW DELHI: Truckers carrying goods beyond the permitted load will end up paying 10 times higher toll charges, as per the new norms notified by the government as part of amendment in toll rules for national highways in the country.

The notification issued after the Cabinet nod also says vehicles must not be allowed to cross toll plazas unless the driver or owner offloads the extra weight at his own risk and cost. Earlier, rules allowed an overloaded vehicle to pass toll plazas by paying the toll charge specified for the next higher category vehicle.

This meant in case a three-axle vehicle was found overloaded, it could pass the toll plaza after paying the charge for a four-axle vehicle. “This penalty was too little. Though the rule also included offloading of extra load, there was hardly any impact. Now, private road developers will have an interest checking overloading as they will get substantial extra revenue,” said an official.

Overloading is one of the major causes of road accidents and fatalities. In 2012, overloading and overcrowding caused almost one lakh accidents and claimed 30,500 lives on Indian roads.

Moreover, a Central Road Research Institute study had shown that with 10% overloading above the permissible limit, the life of roads got reduced by 35% and with 30% overloading, it got reduced by about 65%.

International experts have been pushing for reforms in rules and regulations to make travel safer on Indian roads. Pushing for such reforms, India head of World Health Organization Nata Menabde said last week, “If India can save its children from polio, we are sure that we can save those children than dying on roads later.”

She had said that across the world, road accident was the biggest killer of young population in the age group of 15-29 years.

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